MEDS20018 - Advanced Obstetric Ultrasound

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit is designed to advance your clinical practice in the field of obstetric ultrasound. This unit will cover fetal structure, function, pathophysiology and scanning techniques at an advanced level as relevant to each trimester. You will develop your ability to make a clinical assessment, recognise fetal anomalies and disruptions to normal growth patterns. The legal and ethical considerations associated with the imaging and management of the pregnancy will be discussed.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2022

Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Portfolio 50%
2. Online Test 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 66.67% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student verbal comments during interactive tutorials.
Feedback
Students commented that they felt content related to legal responsibility in healthcare could be revised.
Recommendation
Revise the content related to 'legal responsibilities in healthcare'.
Action Taken
The content related to 'legal responsibilities in healthcare' was revised. This content was discussed during interactive tutorials to enable an understanding of this topic with relevance to the student’s clinical workplace.
Source: Student comments in SUTE data from the "Have your say" section on the unit Moodle site.
Feedback
Students found the neurosonography lectures to be thought provoking and very applicable to clinical practice.
Recommendation
Maintain neurosonography content and lectures pertaining to this subject matter.
Action Taken
The neurosonography content was maintained. In addition, a further lecture titled "Ultrasound of the posterior fossa of the brain" was added to the learning resources in this unit. Furthermore, this topic was unpacked within interactive tutorials.
Source: Student comments in SUTE data from the "Have your say" section on the unit Moodle site.
Feedback
Students reported that some topics such as the sonographic assessment of the fetal gastrointestinal (GI) tract, genitourinary, face and neck, and demonstration of skeletal dysplasias needed more in-depth explanations to enhance student understanding.
Recommendation
Review learning resources related to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, genitourinary system, neck, face and skeletal dysplasias.
Action Taken
Learning resources related to the gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary system, neck, face and skeletal dysplasias were reviewed. Updated content was discussed in tutorials.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Students report that further formative quizzes could be provided to enhance learning, and gain feedback throughout the learning journey.
Recommendation
Develop further quizzes to be embedded within the unit. Ensure assessment task due dates are set appropriately to enable students to receive feedback prior to subsequent assessment submissions.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Some students reported that some unit learning materials could be updated.
Recommendation
Review learning materials to ensure that the latest and most current clinical best practice guidelines are discussed and outlined.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Evaluate normal and abnormal findings of fetal ultrasound and appraise the clinical relevance
  2. Research the role of ultrasound in the clinical assessment, diagnosis and management of the obstetric patient, including communication, legal and ethical considerations
  3. Apply at an advanced level clinical knowledge and critical thinking to fetal assessment

The Masters course does not lead to entry into the sonography profession but is rather studied by qualified practitioners to support advanced practice. Therefore it does not require external accreditation. The Master of Medical Ultrasound qualifies as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activity (activity code 10B - Australian Sonographers Accreditation Registry (ASAR)). This unit alone does not lead to the award of a qualification in specialist obstetric ultrasound.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Portfolio
2 - Online Test
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Knowledge
2 - Communication
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills
4 - Research
5 - Self-management
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility
7 - Leadership
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Advanced Level
Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Portfolio
2 - Online Test